Progress Texas Institute (Texas Research Institute)

While nominally nonpartisan, the group’s leadership has ties to the Democratic Party. Executive director Kathleen Thompson was a Texas Democratic Party State Executive Committee member and communications director for the Dallas County Democratic Party, ³ and other board members have ran as Democratic candidates in local and state elections. ^{4 5}

The group is financed by left-of-center philanthropic foundations, including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Ford Foundation. ⁶

Financials

Progress Texas Institute had total revenues of $952,190 and total expenses of $966,595 with $559,820 in total assets in 2021. ⁷ It received over $600,000 from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, over $100,000 from the Ford Foundation, and $18,380 from Schwab Charitable Fund since 2018. ⁸

Progress Texas and Progress Texas Institute transfer cash payments to one another. ⁷

Background

Progress Texas Institute was founded in 2011 in Austin, Texas. It is the research and communications arm of Progress Texas, a social welfare group aiming to turn Texas into a Democratic-controlled state. The group promotes left-of-center positions on state and federal issues such as gun control, abortion, voting, and LGBT issues. ⁹ It grew to become an online media project with 200,000 followers across all social media platforms. ¹⁰ The Progress Texas Daily Dispatch is the group’s weekly podcast. ¹¹

The group was developed by Ed Espinoza, executive director from 2013 to 2022.

Espinoza is a political analyst and media personality from Austin, Texas. He worked for CNN, KVUE News and Spectrum News. His political career included more than 50 political campaigns in 15 states, including being a Superdelegate for Barack Obama. From 2009 to 2011, he was the Western States Director at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). ¹²

From 2013 to 2022, he developed the nonprofit’s media organization and amplified its outreach. He led a digital newsroom and the group’s public opinion polling. ¹²

Advocacy

Progress Texas Institute seeks to change the political landscape in Texas by promoting left-of-center positions on state and national issues like abortion, gun control and redistricting laws. ¹³

Gun Control

After the 2018 Santa Fe mass shooting, the group attacked Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R). ¹⁴ In 2023, Democratic State Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) was on the Progress Texas Daily Dispatch podcast to discuss gun control measures. ¹⁵ The podcast has featured other gun control activists including Nicole Golden, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, and Liz Hanks, Texas chapter lead for Moms Demand Action. ¹⁶

Redistricting

In 2021, former executive director Ed Espinoza called Texas’ state legislative districts “disproportionate” compared to the state’s population. ¹⁷ The group has launched a media campaign in which they mock the state’s district shapes. Progress Texas Institute created GoVoteTexas, an online voter guide for Texas residents. ¹⁸ The site is sponsored by organizations such as Planned Parenthood  and Workers Defense Project. ¹⁸

Social Issues

The group promotes left-of-center positions on abortion access and gender transition. ¹⁹ Former Texas State Senator and senior advisor for Planned Parenthood Wendy Davis was featured on the group’s podcast. ²⁰ One year after the Dobbs Supreme Court decision, executive director Kathleen Thompson affirmed her opposition to the ruling in a public statement: “The United States Supreme Court took away our constitutional right to abortion. We won’t stop fighting, because then, today, and tomorrow, we stand with the majority of Texans who know abortion is a human right.” ²¹

Leadership

As of 2023, Progress Texas Institute is led by Kathleen Thompson, Sara Stapleton-Barrera, Joi Chevalier, Amber Davis, Yvonne Massey Davis, and Dick Lavine. ² Thompson, Stapleton-Barrera, and Chevalier have direct ties to the Democratic Party.

Thompson became executive director in 2022, replacing Ed Espinoza. ³ She was the Communications Director of the Dallas County Democratic Party, the State Democratic Executive Committeewoman for Senate District 12, and the Texas Field Organizer for Living Liberally, ²² a left-of-center social group. She is the founder of the Grapevine Veterans Day Parade and a member of the Grapevine Garden Club executive board. ^{23 3}

Barrera ran for Texas State Senate District 27 as a Democratic candidate in 2022. ²⁴ She was endorsed by Texas Equity PAC, the largest statewide group dedicated to promoting LGBT rights. ²⁵

Chevalier was the Democratic candidate for Comptroller of Public Accounts in 2018. She lost that election to incumbent Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R). ⁵